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Palestine in the mid-19th century when Jewish writers began conceiving pf returning was a province of the declining Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Turks conquered Palestine (1516). Local governors appointed by the Ottomans collected revenues which was forwarded to Constntinople. Thee Ottomans promoted important public works. Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem (1537). The Druse attenpted to establish their own state in northern Palestine during the early Ottoman era. Napoleon conducted one of his earliest campaigns in the Middle East, seizing Cairo and areas in Palestine (1798). He took Jaffa, Ramle, Lydda, Nazareth and Tiberias, but was unable to take Acre. A Royal Navy squadron under Nelson destoyed the French fleet and made Napoleon's position untenable. Mehemet Ali of Egypt seized Palestine from the Ottomans. His son Ibrahim Pasha leading Egyptian troops took Acre (1831). The local Palestinian population revolted (1834). After considerableturmoil, the Ottomans regained control of Palestine (1840). The Palestinian Arab population played a role in the political reforms seeking to modernize the Ottoman Empire (1876 and 1908). Ottoman Palestine consisted of two administrative areas. There was the autnomous Sanjak (district) of Jerusalem which was subject to the High Porte in Constantinople. The Sanjak included an area from Jaffa to the River Jordan in the East and from the Jordan south to the borders of Egypt. The other area was part of the Willayat (province) of Beirut. This part was composed of the Sanjak of Balka (Nablus) from Jaffa to Jenin, and the Sanjak of Acre, which extended from Jenin to Naqura. Palestiniaqn Arabs had many important political and military posts under Ottoman rule. The Ottoman Empire was evolving in the late 19th century abd the plitical reforms resulted in a constitution and parliment. There were Arab representatives in the Parliament. In the first Parliament, the President of the Council of the House of Representatives was a Jerusalem Deputy , Yusif Dia Pasha Al Khalidi. The administration of Arab territories was entrusted to elected Administrative Councils. Those Councils were elected and existed in the provinces, districts, and sub-districts. Those Councils were vested with extensive powers in administration, finance, education, and development. The Ottoman Empire was, however, by the 19th century politically unstable. While the Empire was controlled by Turks, they were a minority within the Empire which included large number of Balkan Christians, Armenians, and Arabs. The Young Turks that seized control of the Government were not about to relinquish control to non-Turkish groups. Palestine remained under Ottoman rule until World War I. It is difficut to know the political attitudes of Palestinians to Ottoman rule. It was from the desert tribes, supported by the British, however, that effective resistace to Ottoman rule came after the Ottomans entered the War on the side of the Central Powers.
Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II (reigned 1481-1512) gave considerable attention to his navy and he used to extend the reach of Ottoman power in the Mediterranean. His navy joined by the North African corsairs managedto displace Venice and Genoa as the dominate naval power in the eastern and central Mediterranean. Selim I known to history as Selim the Grim drove south conquering the Arab lands of Syria and Palestine which had been rukled by the Egyptian Mamluks (1516). They were made provinces of the Ottoman Empire. Continued his campaign, Selim drove the last of the Mamluk sultans from his Cairo throne (1517). Egypt was made a a satellite of the Ottoman Empire. Selim I was also recognized as guardian of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. With the effective control of the holy cities, the Ottoman sultans acquired the title of caliph.
Local governors appointed by the Ottomans collected revenues which was forwarded to Constntinople. Thee Ottomans promoted important public works. Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem (1537).
The Druse attenpted to establish their own state in northern Palestine during the early Ottoman era.
Napoleon conducted one of his earliest campaigns in the Middle East, seizing Cairo and areas in Palestine (1798). He took Jaffa, Ramle, Lydda, Nazareth and Tiberias, but was unable to take Acre. A Royal Navy squadron under Nelson destoyed the French fleet and made Napoleon's position untenable.
The Ottomans comquered the Levant (1516) and turned Egypt into a sattelite state (1517). As Ottoman power began to decline, Egypt was able to exert an increasing degree of indeoendence. Mehemet/Muhammad Ali was nominally the Ottoman Govenor of Egypt, but by 1830 was essentially an independent ruler. He seized Palestine from the Ottomans. This was a period in which the Ottomons were struggling to retain control of Greece and called on Muhammad Ali for military assistance aginst the Greeks. Mehemet Ali's son Ibrahim Pasha leading Egyptian troops took Acre (1831). The local Palestinian population in turn reolted against Mehemet Ali (1834). Ottomon authorities generally protected minority groups throughout the Empire. With Ottomon control thrown off, Palestinian Arabs apparently targeted the Jewish minority. Muhammad Ali to build his army attempted to conscript the Muslimm Palestinians. The Palestinians, however, resisted service in Muhammad's army. Kassam Lakhama in Nablus called for a Palestinian revolt. They were joined by peasants (fellahin) in the surronding villages. They marched on Jerusalem and seized it (May 31). Rioters began attacking Christians and Jews, but the rebel commander ordered that stopped. Ibrahim Pasha, with a substantial force reached Jerusalem (June 3) and the rebels fled. The Jews at Safed were not so lucky. The Palestinians attacked the Jews there. This appears to have been a dresful pogrom. After considerableturmoil, the Ottomans regained control of Palestine from the Egyptians (1840).
The question arises as to the economic status of Palesinians under Ottoman rule. We have noted references to the people being very poor. This seems to have been the general situation for Arabs living within the Ottoman Empire. This seems to be a fair statement. We do not have any detailed information such as actual income levels. Not do we know how the Palesinians compared to other Arab populations inside and beyond the Ottoman Empire. One source suggests that Palestine was one of the poorest regions within the Ottoman Empire. We canot yet confirm that this was the case. Another question of importance is why were the Palestinians and other Arab populations so poor. Were they exploited by the Ottoman Empire? Or did Ottoman regulations prevent economic development. A major factor was that the Palestinians were largely uneducated. The population received little or no formal education and there were no institutions of hihjer education. The Palestinians like most Arab people within the Ottoman Empire had not entered the modern age. An understanding of the economic situation during the Ottoman era is important to understand to place developments during the 20th century in context.
The Palestinian Arab population played a role in the political reforms seeking to modernize the Ottoman Empire (1876 and 1908).
Palestiniaqn Arabs had many important political and military posts under Ottoman rule. The Ottoman Empire was evolving in the late 19th century and the plitical reforms resulted in a constitution and parliment. There were Arab representatives in the Parliament. In the first Parliament, the President of the Council of the House of Representatives was a Jerusalem Deputy , Yusif Dia Pasha Al Khalidi.
Ottoman Palestine consisted of two administrative areas. There was the autnomous Sanjak (district) of Jerusalem which was subject to the High Porte in Constantinople. The Sanjak included an area from Jaffa to the River Jordan in the East and from the Jordan south to the borders of Egypt. The other area was part of the Willayat (province) of Beirut. This part was composed of the Sanjak of Balka (Nablus) from Jaffa to Jenin, and the Sanjak of Acre, which extended from Jenin to Naqura. The administration of Arab territories was entrusted to elected Administrative Councils. Those Councils were elected and existed in the provinces, districts, and sub-districts. Those Councils were vested with extensive powers in administration, finance, education, and development.
The institution of African slavery was ended in the estern World during the 19th century. The British Royal Navy played a key role in ending the Africam slave trade. And slavery itself was ended by Britain (1834), America (1863), and Brazil (1888). The British first focused on ending the Atlantic slave trade. They also worked in the Indian Ocean and wider Middle East, this proved a more difficult undertaking, primarily because the Arabs, Ottomans, and Persians resisted the abolition of slavery. There were as in the West, economic reasons for slavery. The principal reason slavery persisted longer in the Muslim world, however, seems to have been the Koranic foundation of slavery. Palestine since the 16th century was part of the Ottoman Empire. Even before the Ottoman Empire conqquered Palestine and other Arab areas, there was an important slave market in Gaza. Within the Ottoman Empire, slavery survived as a legal institution into the 20th century, although it was largely abolished. Arabs in particular resisted Ottoman efforts to end slavery. (Slavery survived in Arab successor states like Saudi Arabia. The Saudis did not abloish slavery until 1961, in large part because of American diplomatic presure.) Arab slave holding thus peristed in Palestine into the 20th slavery. After World War I, the British attempted to finally end slavery in Palestine. Slavery was not finally ended, however, until the the Isreali-Palestinian War (1948-49) and the creation of Isreal, the period the Palestinians refer to as the "Nakba"--the catastrophe. Palestinian attitudes towards black Africans and slavery appear to be wide spread Arab attitudes, although there are differences among modern Arab countries. The Arabs referred to black Africans as "Abed" - which literally meant slave. There was a clear tendency to value slave on a racial basis. And among black African slaves there were varying degrees of inferiority. Ethiopians for reasons we do not yet fully understand were considered superior to other Africans. There are descendents of these former African slaves among the Bedouin in the Negev and Palestinians in Gaza. And there remains a continuing social stigma refflected in racial aditutudes. Many lighter-skined Palestinians refused to marry darker-skined individuals who may be of African slave ancestry. These lingering social aditudes are most pronounced in Gaza where slavery was more important thn in the West Bank. [Beckerleg]
The Ottoman Empire was, however, by the 19th century politically unstable. While the Empire was controlled by Turks, they were a minority within the Empire which included large number of Balkan Christians, Armenians, and Arabs. The Young Turks that seized control of the Government were not about to relinquish control to non-Turkish groups. Palestine remained under Ottoman rule until World War I.
World War I broke out in Europe (August 1914). Palestine at the beginning of the War was a part of the Ottoman Empire. The population was largely Arab with some Jewish settlements as a result of the European Zionist movement. The Germans sought to bring the declining Ottoman Empire into the War to draw Russian and British resources from the two main fronts of the War. The Ottomans joined the Central Powers (October 1914). They had suffered significan territorial losses in the Balkans and the Caucauses at the hands of the Russians and saw allying themselves with the Germans was one way of regaining lost territory from the beleagered Russians. The War quickly turned into a disaster when the Ottoman army invading the Russian Causcasses was decisively defeated. The Ottomons launched an offensive from Palestine soon after entering the War (November 1914). They crossed the Sinai and at some locations reached the Suez Canal, but were beaten back by the British. The British encoraged an Arab Revolt in Arabia which developed into a major threat to the Ottomans. The Arab Revolt assisted by T.E. Lawrence helped weakened the Ottomon position in Arabia and Palestine. Palestine turned from an Ottoman backwater into the frontline of World war I. The British made commitments to the Arabs about an independent Arab state after the War. They made condflictging commitments to their French ally. Zionists were initially split by the War. There were Zionists in all the major beligerant powers. The Balfour Declaration would largely change this. Thr British mounted a major offensive Against the Ottomans in Palestine. The British Egyptian Expeditionary Force commanded by Field Marshall Edmund Allenby af first made little progress against the Ottomons. The British finally took Jerusalem (December 1917). Australian Light Cavalry played an important role. The Ottomon Army in the Levant was was finally broken at the Battle of Megiddo (September 1918). The British with the Arab Army on its right then moved to seize Damascus. The British during the War made conflicting commitments to the Arabs, Zionists, and even the French. The result was that after the War they found maintaing order in the Palestine Mandate a very difficult under takibng. The Palestinian Arabs were unwilling to participate in Mandate institutions.
Palestine Under the Ottoman Empire
It is difficut to know the political attitudes of Palestinians to Ottoman rule. It was from the desert tribes, supported by the British, however, that effective resistace to Ottoman rule came after the Ottomans entered the War on the side of the Central Powers. Sharif Husayn encouraged by his correspondence with the British launched the fmed Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire June 5, 1916). Husayn declared himself "King of the Arabs" (October 1916). The Arab revolt in the Hejaz broke out, surprising the Ottomans (June 5, 1916). British and French agents played a major role in inducung the Arab rising. The Arab Revolt, led chiefly by Col. T.E. Lawrence, Emir Faisal, and his father Sherif Hussein, "King of the Hejaz". The first major success was tsking the Ottoman garison at Aqaba. The Arab Revolt broke out in full force (January-September 1918). The Arabs took control of Arabia cutting rail lines. Isolated Ottoman garrisons were besieged throughout the Peninsula. The Ottomans hard pressed by the British in Palestine were unable to deal with the Arab Revolt.
Beckerleg, Susan. Translated by Salah Al Zaroo. Hidden History: The Origins and Status of African Palestinians.
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